Ariana Grande
Ariana Grande-Butera (born June 26, 1993) is an American actress, model and singer who currently plays the role of Cat Valentine on the Nickelodeon TV series Sam & Cat, after portraying the same character in the Nickelodeon sitcom Victorious, where she gained popularity in. Early life Grande was born and raised in Boca Raton, Florida. She is of Italian descent, half Sicilian, half Abruzzese, Greek and North African American. Her name was inspired by Princess Oriana from Felix the Cat. Grande's parents are Joan Grande and Edward Butera, a graphic designer. She has an older brother, Frankie Grande, who is a performer and producer. He also was one of Grande's backup dancers on her first tour. Grande sang as a soloist in various symphonies, such as South Florida's Philharmonic, Pops and Symphonia Orchestras. She has sang various times in NYC's Birdland and has sang the National Anthem on the first live broadcast of the Florida Panthers hockey league. When she was 8 years old, she went on a boat cruise with her family and she sang My Heart Will Go On, but to suddenly realize that Gloria Estafan, a latin singer was listening her sing. Career 2008–12: Beginnings and acting breakthrough In 2008, Grande played the role of Charlotte in the musical 13 on Broadway, for which she won a National Youth Theatre Association Award. When she joined the musical, Grande left her high school, North Broward Preparatory School, but continued to be enrolled. The school sent materials to her so she could study with tutors. In 2010, she created the original role of Miriam in the reading of the new musical, Cuba Libre, written and produced by Desmond Child. It is about two sisters that are journeying through the revolution in Cuba. Grande played the character Cat Valentine on the Nickelodeon television show Victorious, which premiered in March 2010. In 2011, Ariana voiced an animated fairy, Princess Diaspro, on the Nickelodeon series Winx Club and starred as Snow White along with Charlene Tilton and Neil Patrick Harris in the Pasadena Playhouse production of A Snow White Christmas from December 13–23, 2012. In 2012, Grande sang a duet with MIKA on the single version of his track "Popular Song". In the following month it was also announced that Victorious's current season (Season 3, which was split to a fourth season) will be the last. It was announced that the third soundtrack would be released on November 6, 2012 titled as Victorious 3.0. The first single was called "L.A. Boys" (which was performed by Grande and Victoria Justice and the music video was released October 18, 2012. Victorious ended on February 2, 2013. It was announced during the network's presentation at the Television Critics Association Summer Press Tour on August 3, 2012 that Sam & Cat, which would pair Grande from Victorious and Jennette McCurdy from iCarly together in a traditional "buddy sitcom" setting, where they would reprise their roles as Cat Valentine and Sam Puckett. Grande tweeted stating that she wasn't hoping for Victorious to end and was looking forward to being on both shows. Sam & Cat was picked up by Nickelodeon on November 29, 2012. The pilot showed them becoming roommates who launch a babysitting business for income. 2013: Music breakthrough Grande completed her first studio album, Yours Truly, in June 2013 which took three years to complete. It was released in the US on September 3rd, 2013. Grande commented on the album saying: "They can expect a lot of honesty. It's like a direct... you know, it's like it used to be pages from my diary, instead of keeping diary, I would write songs about what was happening in my life. So it's really personal. It's a Motown throwback and pop at the same time, so it's '50s and '60s inspiration mixed with today." The album was inspired by artists like Amy Winehouse, Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, Alicia Keys, Christina Aguilera, Katy Perry, Madonna and other like these. Grande worked with artists like Sky Blue from LMFAO, 3OH!3, Kool Kojak, and Pebe Sebert on the album. She was also working in the studio with Jonas Brothers singer Nick Jonas. On March 20, 2013, Ariana previewed her new song in its entirety at B96 in Chicago for a small group of her dedicated fans and had a pizza party with them. On March 26, 2013, Ariana's first single off her debut album, "The Way" featuring Pittsburgh rapper Mac Miller, was released. Her second single "Baby I" was released, followed by "Almost Is Never Enough" featuring Nathan Sykes of The Wanted. Her last single from the album was "Right There" featuring Big Sean. In December 2013, Grande released an EP named Christmas Kisses featuring the songs "Last Christmas", "Love is Everything", "Snow in California" and "Santa Baby" featuring Elizabeth Gillies. 2014-present: Music breakthrough again In mid January, Grande confirmed that she is working on her My Everything, which will be released sometime in 2014. The first single, "Problem" was released in April. It featues Australian rapper, Iggy Azalea. The song was very successful selling over 400,000 units in its first week and debuting at number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song later moved up to no. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and reached no. 1 on the UK Charts. On July, 2, Ariana released Break Free the second single off My Everything which featured Zedd. After the release, the song immediately went up to no. 1 on the iTunes chart. It was later announced that "My Everything" will be released on August, 25 and will feature a lot of different musicians. It will be released in standard, Deluxe Edition and Japanese Edition formats. Bang Bang (by Jessie J) will be the next single off "My Everything" (Deluxe Edition only) and will be released worldwide on the 29th of July. The song feautures Ariana and Nicki Minaj. Personal life Relationships In 2008, Grande started dating Graham Phillips. They were in a relationship for three years. However, they broke up in December 2011. In February 2012, she and her back-up dancer Jordan Viscomi started dating. A few months later, they broke up. Ariana hasn't said anything about the relationship between her and Jordan, but Jordan has given Arianators (Ariana Grande's fans) many hints. In 2012, Grande began dating Jai Brooks, a member of the Australian YouTube group, "The Janoskians" after meeting through Twitter. They had a long distance relationship until December 2012, when they met for the first time in New York City. However, Grande and Brooks broke up in August 2013, due to Jai accusing Ariana she was cheating on him. However, Jai and Ariana have recently confirmed that they are officially back together. A month later after weeks of speculation, Ariana and Nathan Sykes from the British boyband "The Wanted" confirmed their relationship on Twitter. They were spotted holding hands and hugging in Disneyland, the same place where Ariana took Jai. There was much outrage on Twitter with Ariana's and Jai's families on Twitter over lies and false rumors. On what would've been Jai and Ariana's one year anniversary, Jai tweeted and claimed that Grande cheated on him. Luke, Jai's twin brother, also DMed a fan on Twitter, claiming Ariana cheated on him with Mac Miller, and then Nathan Sykes. Ariana has denied all claims, saying that Brooks is only using her for her fame. In late January 2014, Grande confirmed in a radio interview that her and Sykes had decided to end their approximately five month long relationship, but insisted that they remain close friends. Ariana and her ex-boyfriend Jai Brooks were seen kissing after her performance at the iHeartRadio Music Awards on May 1, 2014. Fans speculate they are back together, though neither of them have said anything about it. There are also rumors that they have been back together since early March 2014. Jai and Ariana have recently confirmed that they're back together. Tattoos Ariana Grande has three tattoos. The first, is a heart on her toe which she got in April 2012 while recording her debut album, Yours Truly. Its purpose is to serve as a reminder of this exciting time in her life. She also has a song called “Tattooed Heart” which inspired her heart tattoo. Ariana’s second tattoo was writing on the back of her neck. It was done in March 14, 2014, the same day her brother Frankie Grande got a tattoo as well. It was done by artist Romeo Lacoste. It reads “Mille Tendresse,” which is French for “A Thousand Tendernesses.” The saying is used in Ariana’s favorite film Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Her third tattoo is the the word "Bellissima" in small letters on her side. It's a nickname that her Frank Grande has called her all her life. She got this on March 23 while having a party at her house. A lot of her friends got their first tattoos that night which Ariana described as "such a bonding experience". Philantrophy At the age of 14, Grande co-founded the youth singing group, Kids Who Care, in South Florida, which performed for charitable fund-raising events, raising over $500,000 for charities in 2007 alone. In the summer of 2009, as a member of the charitable organization, Broadway in South Africa, Grande performed and taught music and dance to children in Gugulethu, South Africa along with her brother Frankie. Grande also partnered with Kleenex on its "Shield Sneeze Swish" campaign. Filmography Stage Television Films Gallery References Category:1993 births Category:Celebrity Category:Female